Would you pay $20 for this?

Weiss · May 17, 2022 1:30PM

The service, not the bar.
Would you pay $20 for the security, the authenticity, the protection the slab offers?
Because I kind of think I would. Maybe not for every bar. But for a pristine, 35+/- year old bar?

johnny9434 · May 17, 2022 2:25PM

Not for silver bars. It's just a money maker to me, jmo

USASoccer · May 17, 2022 3:05PM

I'm digging it

doubleeagle07 · May 17, 2022 3:36PM

Lol, doubt it. Would like some better holders for my bars, but grading a bar? What's the point?

SonnyD · May 17, 2022 4:08PM

Yes and no.
I can see the appeal and small marketing niche. But I prefer my bulk metal raw

derryb · May 17, 2022 4:13PM

I pay for a label only when the added value of the label is greater than the added cost for the label. In this case Yes.

JimTyler · May 17, 2022 4:41PM

Yes

blitzdude · May 17, 2022 5:11PM

Would you pay $20 for this?

LOL, THAT'S A BIG NO. I'd pay about $200 for the raw bar though. THKS!

Kliao · May 17, 2022 5:19PM

No. I get that some collect vintage bars, and it may be worth it to them but not to me.

rte592 · May 17, 2022 6:14PM

MS69.
UM?
Lol...
No it's not.

Marketing gimmick.
Now some pedigree from AllEngelhard OR a COA carries some weight.

Meltdown · May 18, 2022 4:14AM

Maybe for some scarce art bars in pristine condition. I could see a high grade commanding a higher premium.

DrBuster · May 18, 2022 5:20AM

Eh, no not for bars, but I can see the appeal to others.

ricko · May 18, 2022 5:32AM

Yes, for some bars - collector value, authenticity. Cheers, RickO

Weiss · May 18, 2022 6:51AM

What if the slab also contained an assay, with precise weight in grams or troy ounces, and purity to the 4th or 5th decimal?

Meltdown · May 18, 2022 6:57AM

Interesting. Where are you finding these? I assume PCGS is now slabbing bullion and this isn't just photoshop fun.

PerryHall · May 18, 2022 7:10AM

I could see this slab for a gold or silver bar recovered from a famous shipwreck (Atocha, SS Central America, SS Republic, etc) but not for the typical silver bar. Most silver stackers want to be able to hold their silver bars in their greedy little hands.

Weiss · May 18, 2022 7:11AM

It's just photoshop.
I visited the vault recently and found the vinyl pouches on a few of my vintage 10 ounce bars are starting to show signs of age: Cracking, vinyl seams coming unwelded. I seem to recall wiping them down with armor all wipes maybe 10 years ago, I guess I should do that again.
Anyway, got me thinking. These pouches weren't meant to last, and they've done their job--protecting the bars within--for 40 years now, give or take. So what would be the ideal replacement? An off the shelf generic plastic snap-together case (which you can buy for a few bucks), or something worthy of a vintage bar?

We don't think twice about a $50 coin in a slab. So why not a nice bar? A nice 10 ounce bar is worth $300 to $400. A really good 10 ounce bar can be worth a few times that. So is slabbing bullion worth $20? Maybe. For the consistency, the authentication, the AllEngelhard attribution (shown here as the "7th series" and in the top post as "2nd series") and the physical protection the slab offers to soft .999+ pure silver.

But what would give a bullion slab added value? Really make it an asset? How about an assay, even if it's just an XRF, and a precise weight?

bronco2078 · May 18, 2022 8:36AM

nope

Mrcardsniper · May 18, 2022 10:44AM

Yes, but not for silver. Gold and Platinum I would pay the twenty bucks!

streeter · May 18, 2022 5:48PM

A shop I do business with bought an ounce sealed platinum bar when they were real busy at a show. Trusted their seller.

Fake

SurfinxHI · May 18, 2022 8:25PM

How could you ever validate a "mint" grade?

dcarr · May 18, 2022 11:14PM

@blitzdude said:
Would you pay $20 for this?

LOL, THAT'S A BIG NO. I'd pay about $200 for the raw bar though. THKS!

Nobody with much sense would sell you that bar for $200. Recent eBay sales in the past week have been $280 to $360.

streeter · May 19, 2022 5:32AM

@dcarr said:

@blitzdude said:
Would you pay $20 for this?

LOL, THAT'S A BIG NO. I'd pay about $200 for the raw bar though. THKS!

Nobody with much sense would sell you that bar for $200. Recent eBay sales in the past week have been $280 to $360.

He calls it gutter to whomever will listen then offers much less. Next he'll offer oats or ??? Great gig if you can get someone to bite.

Weiss · May 19, 2022 5:48AM

@streeter said:
A shop I do business with bought an ounce sealed platinum bar when they were real busy at a show. Trusted their seller.

Fake

I sold out of my blister pack holdings of gold many years ago for the same reason: Fake bars in fake blister packs.
But if anything, that's seems to be a reason more in favor than against. It's easy enough to check if a PCGS slab is real. Their photo service would add another layer of protection. Especially since modern blister pack bars--real or fake--are pristine and identical. Compared to vintage bars, which all have battle scars to some degree.

FWIW: This is an actual bullion bar in an actual PCGS slab:

jmski52 · May 19, 2022 6:36AM

He calls it gutter to whomever will listen then offers much less.

That's what coin dealers used to do before coin grading services. If I owned the coin, it was VG but when the dealer owned it, it was Premium Superb XF.

asheland · May 19, 2022 10:22AM

That would be cool for the scarcer bars...

blitzdude · May 19, 2022 3:44PM

@dcarr said:

@blitzdude said:
Would you pay $20 for this?

LOL, THAT'S A BIG NO. I'd pay about $200 for the raw bar though. THKS!

Nobody with much sense would sell you that bar for $200. Recent eBay sales in the past week have been $280 to $360.

Or maybe just perhaps the eBay "Buyers" are the ones with no CeNTS?

blitzdude · May 19, 2022 3:46PM

@streeter said:

@dcarr said:

@blitzdude said:
Would you pay $20 for this?

LOL, THAT'S A BIG NO. I'd pay about $200 for the raw bar though. THKS!

Nobody with much sense would sell you that bar for $200. Recent eBay sales in the past week have been $280 to $360.

He calls it gutter to whomever will listen then offers much less. Next he'll offer oats or ??? Great gig if you can get someone to bite.

Soon you will be Praying you had "oats" instead of "gutter" metal. Don't say you weren't warned. GD LCK!!

blitzdude · May 19, 2022 3:49PM

@jmski52 said:
He calls it gutter to whomever will listen then offers much less.

That's what coin dealers used to do before coin grading services. If I owned the coin, it was VG but when the dealer owned it, it was Premium Superb XF.

And guess what.......44 years later your coin dealer game is still the same.

bronco2078 · May 19, 2022 4:16PM

@blitzdude said:

@jmski52 said:
He calls it gutter to whomever will listen then offers much less.

That's what coin dealers used to do before coin grading services. If I owned the coin, it was VG but when the dealer owned it, it was Premium Superb XF.

And guess what.......44 years later your coin dealer game is still the same.

ya only with plastic!

slabs are needed for a solid 1% of coins superfluous for many others and disgraceful for bullion

dcarr · May 19, 2022 9:51PM

@blitzdude said:

@dcarr said:

@blitzdude said:
Would you pay $20 for this?

LOL, THAT'S A BIG NO. I'd pay about $200 for the raw bar though. THKS!

Nobody with much sense would sell you that bar for $200. Recent eBay sales in the past week have been $280 to $360.

Or maybe just perhaps the eBay "Buyers" are the ones with no CeNTS?

So sell all of your silver on eBay then.

LukeMarshall · May 20, 2022 8:35AM

Nice thread,... I especially like your edit job.

So if I had a collection of Engelhard or Johnson Matthey 10oz Bullion Bars, and I was looking for a way to Conserve and protect them I would most likely pay the $200 to have my ten different varieties slabbed. Hopefully the box holds 10 jumbo slabs and I can keep them all in the same place.

Not sure if you knew, but they DID slab some WTC gold 10oz bars in PCGS plastic so the precedence has been set…

Also this is kind of on topic
Those looking for a smaller ingot in Plastic would be keen to pick up the Japanese “Samurai Money” Shu & Bu , they also have gold versions and are relatively affordable

I will say if PCGS wants to slab 100oz ingots they may have to develop some stronger plastic - a fall from any height on a 6lb+ bullion bar would probably smash the case to smithereens

Weiss · May 20, 2022 11:15AM

I was not aware that they'd slabbed 10 oz bars, @LukeMarshall . Though to be fair, a 10 oz gold bar is considerably smaller than a 10 oz silver bar.
I think they could just do a ribbon, kind of a GSA pack band for a bar larger than 10 ounce.

I actually wrote CU's customer service dept and linked to this thread. They responded that they'll send it up the chain.
I have to think that they've already got it on the back burner. Maybe it's time to consider. Vintage bullion is becoming hotter.

blitzdude · May 20, 2022 5:53PM

@dcarr said:

@blitzdude said:

@dcarr said:

@blitzdude said:
Would you pay $20 for this?

LOL, THAT'S A BIG NO. I'd pay about $200 for the raw bar though. THKS!

Nobody with much sense would sell you that bar for $200. Recent eBay sales in the past week have been $280 to $360.

Or maybe just perhaps the eBay "Buyers" are the ones with no CeNTS?

So sell all of your silver on eBay then.

Ya that would be a time well spent "lucrative" deal.....NOT. Fee-bay is the worst place on the planet to dump gutter. Just as many suckers on CL and there's ZERO fees. Wake up please, I can't keep teaching you everything.

TwoSides2aCoin · May 21, 2022 1:59AM

No. It takes too long for numismatics. I don't need to wait in line for guys sitting at a bar.

Rarity · May 28, 2022 8:09AM

Absolutely

doubleeagle07 · May 28, 2022 9:56AM

@Weiss said:
It's just photoshop.
I visited the vault recently and found the vinyl pouches on a few of my vintage 10 ounce bars are starting to show signs of age: Cracking, vinyl seams coming unwelded. I seem to recall wiping them down with armor all wipes maybe 10 years ago, I guess I should do that again.
Anyway, got me thinking. These pouches weren't meant to last, and they've done their job--protecting the bars within--for 40 years now, give or take. So what would be the ideal replacement? An off the shelf generic plastic snap-together case (which you can buy for a few bucks), or something worthy of a vintage bar?

We don't think twice about a $50 coin in a slab. So why not a nice bar? A nice 10 ounce bar is worth $300 to $400. A really good 10 ounce bar can be worth a few times that. So is slabbing bullion worth $20? Maybe. For the consistency, the authentication, the AllEngelhard attribution (shown here as the "7th series" and in the top post as "2nd series") and the physical protection the slab offers to soft .999+ pure silver.

But what would give a bullion slab added value? Really make it an asset? How about an assay, even if it's just an XRF, and a precise weight?

I use a pelican style case for my bars so their air tight along with a recharagable silica canister. This way their in a moistureless enviornment most of the time. I don't think its practical to have lets say a 25oz or 100oz bar in a plastic slab do you? Imagine how thick or bulky that would have to be to hold something of that size without breaking. Kind of impractical. I get the point though of having something authentic and not everyone has means to test the authencity.

Weiss · May 28, 2022 10:01AM

@doubleeagle07 said:
. I don't think its practical to have lets say a 25oz or 100oz bar in a plastic slab do you? Imagine how thick or bulky that would have to be to hold something of that size without breaking. Kind of impractical. I get the point though of having something authentic and not everyone has means to test the authencity.

@Weiss said:

I think they could just do a ribbon, kind of a GSA pack band for a bar larger than 10 ounce.

>

bronco2078 · May 30, 2022 3:49AM

armor ruins everything it touches what are you doin with that stuff?

Would you pay $20 for this?

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